Here's Audio of that Contentious Interview Between Mike Francesa and Tiki Barber

Tiki Barber’s NFL comeback hit a bit of a speedbump Wednesday afternoon when he made his first radio appearance following Tuesday’s HBO Sports interview. Tiki went on Mike Francesa’s show, and the two butted heads early and often. You can listen to the entire audio here, but here are a few pull quotes to get started:

Barber: “I think you’re throwing a little bit of hyperbole out there, Mike, because I didn’t have a ‘big failure’ in broadcasting. I think if you laid the stage as you and Chris at the time tried to, that I was (to) be the next Matt Lauer, yeah, you could say it was a failure. But I had a lot of fulfillment at NBC. I did a lot of great stories that I think had impact over the three years that I was there.”

Barber: “You’re putting it in simple terms. And if that’s how you need to do it, Michael, fine, you put it in simple terms. But I don’t consider my time at NBC a failure.”

Francesa: “The guys at NBC, and I know all of them, they felt that you did a bad job and they said that they thought you were entitled. I mean, they were not complimentary about your work. Let’s not run away from that, this is part of the story.”

Barber: “If you tell me who it was and you get that person on air, I will have a debate with them. I think that’s cowardly of someone to talk behind someone’s back and not tell them, because the truth of the matter is, I don’t know what I could have done better at NBC.”

Not mentioned above, but certainly worth waiting for, is when Barber really challenges Francesa, and the big man with the ego says to the former running back: “That’s stupid to say that.” My favorite moment is when Barber’s annoying agent tries to jump in and change the subject (Tiki is clearly on the ropes and gets very defensive) when the conversation gets heated, and Francesa says, “you’re not there to be his bodyguard, OK?”